Lightning-Bruins postgame thoughts: Shutdown pair solid in return

A few thoughts on the Bruins’ 2-0 win over the Lightning on Thursday at TD Garden.

PAIR SOLID BACK TOGETHER: They’ve had enough experience together that it doesn’t come as much surprise they can rediscover their chemistry so quickly.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg have been united in the playoffs each of the past two seasons and at various points last season. For the second time in less than a week, they were the shutdown unit Thursday against the Lightning.

Working much of the time vs. point-scoring demons Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, they limited their chances in the shutout win.

Stamkos had a breakaway when Brad Marchand turned the puck over, but Tuukka Rask made the glove save (of the stop, Rask said, "He releases so quick, that it just happened in half a second. You just throw yourself out there and hope it gets hit.").

St. Louis had just two shots on goal and Stamkos four. There were few chances for either against 33 and 44. Seidenberg even added a goal of his own on a right-point snipe off a pretty Marchand drop pass.

Individually, Chara and Seidenberg have each had solid seasons, but neither has been at the level they were the past couple years. Chara is still often dominant, but is now 36, while Seidenberg’s had his own bouts of inconsistency.

Together, they give Claude Julien the knowledge he has that shutdown unit in his back pocket. Since Game 3 of the 2011 first round, he’s used it for all 30 playoff games.

The coach sounded after the game like it’s not a sure thing they’ll be together for Game 1 of the playoffs. If the Bruins face the Rangers (Rick Nash, Brad Richards) or Islanders (John Tavares) in the first round, he may have use for a shutdown pair. Against Ottawa, that may not be necessary and a more balanced approach might be prudent.

"They’re a pair that has done a good job in the past in the playoffs," Julien said. "They hadn’t played together this year, so it’s just about giving them, I guess, a feel, a taste of it again, so if need be, when playoffs come around and depending on who we play, we may have that option, as well."

More postgame thoughts after the jump/

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A few thoughts on the Bruins’ 2-0 win over the Lightning on Thursday at TD Garden.

PAIR SOLID BACK TOGETHER: They’ve had enough experience together that it doesn’t come as much surprise they can rediscover their chemistry so quickly.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg have been united in the playoffs each of the past two seasons and at various points last season. For the second time in less than a week, they were the shutdown unit Thursday against the Lightning.

Working much of the time vs. point-scoring demons Martin St. Louis and Steven Stamkos, they limited their chances in the shutout win.

Stamkos had a breakaway when Brad Marchand turned the puck over, but Tuukka Rask made the glove save (of the stop, Rask said, “He releases so quick, that it just happened in half a second. You just throw yourself out there and hope it gets hit.”).

St. Louis had just two shots on goal and Stamkos four. There were few chances for either against 33 and 44. Seidenberg even added a goal of his own on a right-point snipe off a pretty Marchand drop pass.

Widget: blog_inline_images
image
image_size
Medium

Individually, Chara and Seidenberg have each had solid seasons, but neither has been at the level they were the past couple years. Chara is still often dominant, but is now 36, while Seidenberg’s had his own bouts of inconsistency.

Together, they give Claude Julien the knowledge he has that shutdown unit in his back pocket. Since Game 3 of the 2011 first round, he’s used it for all 30 playoff games.

The coach sounded after the game like it’s not a sure thing they’ll be together for Game 1 of the playoffs. If the Bruins face the Rangers (Rick Nash, Brad Richards) or Islanders (John Tavares) in the first round, he may have use for a shutdown pair. Against Ottawa, that may not be necessary and a more balanced approach might be prudent.

“They’re a pair that has done a good job in the past in the playoffs,” Julien said. “They hadn’t played together this year, so it’s just about giving them, I guess, a feel, a taste of it again, so if need be, when playoffs come around and depending on who we play, we may have that option, as well.”

ANGRY MAN: Someone on the Bruins needs to make sure Milan Lucic’s locker is messed up or his skates are tied together before the next game.

Getting Lucic angry may be the answer to unlocking his game.

“Playing with emotion has always worked for me, so it’s up to myself to get myself going and kind of piss myself off before the game starts,” Lucic said.

Whatever works, man.

Lucic certainly had it going Thursday, mashing and bashing his way to the tune of four hits and three attempted shots. He fought Keith Aulie in the second period.

For someone whose skates were seemingly stuck in a sea of concrete this season, he was a transformed player.

There have been baby steps in the three games since Lucic was benched Saturday. He’s still struggling with the skill aspects of his game — the puck kept bouncing off his stick — but that hardly matters when he brings the energy and physicality he did Thursday.

“The only things that I focused on these last three games is moving my feet and establishing a forecheck,” Lucic said. “That’s just all I’m trying to work on right now and get my feet moving and being first on the puck, and as you saw, I think when I was struggling a lot of the times, well most of the time I was second on the puck and I wasn’t really getting there, so that’s been my main focus in these last couple games.”

BACK TO KILLING IT: Against a solid power-play team, the Bruins were 3 for 3 on the penalty kill Thursday.

The kill has been a strength all season, but went through a rough patch last week when the Bruins allowed two power-play goals in three straight games. Since then, they’re 8 for 8 in the last three games.

Getting Patrice Bergeron and Marchand back from concussions has allowed Julien to get back to using his regular forward combinations. The forwards are more aggressive this year and having trust and chemistry with your partner allows a forward to know when to step up on his opponent.

“A lot of the hiccups in the past have been not getting pucks out when you had a chance to,” Julien said. “The longer you stay in your own end and the more tired you get the more chance there is of getting scored on. But we made some good changes, but we also made sure pucks got out tonight.”

ETC.: Andrew Ference had his first fight of the season when he duked with former teammate Benoit Pouliot. Score the win to Ference. … Wade Redden got the call on the bottom pairing and was once again solid. He’s crafty getting the puck out and knows how to use the boards to his advantage. Redden also got some power-play time. … Carl Soderberg was back to wing and played a physical game. He’s not known for that and wasn’t credited with any hits, but was willing to lay his body out. He also is creative in how he moves off the puck. … Big night for the Bruins at the dot. They won 36 of 56 (64 percent), and Bergeron (14 of 19) and Chris Kelly (7 of 10) were both excellent.

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